West Indies have cause for concern after Derbyshire fixture

Sports Reporter

The form of Shannon Gabriel was again a worry for the West Indians as the day/night floodlit game against Derbyshire at Derby ended in a tame draw.

With the First Test at Edgbaston four days away, the tourists main strike bowler rarely threatened during a four over burst in which he bowled four no balls and conceded 24 runs .

Gabriel’s problems will be a concern but at least the batsmen are in good form with opener Kieran Powell scoring a century and all-rounder Roston Chase making an unbeaten 60 to add to his first innings hundred.

Skipper Jason Holder did not declare until tea at 327 for 6, a lead of 573, and Derbyshire reached from 51 without loss from 14 overs before the teams shook hands at 8pm.

The tourists went into the final day with a lead of 306 and they batted through the first two sessions with Powell and Chase taking the opportunity to further boost their confidence ahead of this week’s opening day/night Test.

Powell had missed out on a hundred by eight runs in the first innings but the 27-year-old left hander became the fourth West Indian in the match to score a century before he retired hurt with cramp.

He drove and pulled Tom Taylor for three consecutive fours as he accelerated to three figures off only 102 balls after Jermaine Blackwood had been well caught at extra cover for 29.

Jason Holder fell to left-arm spinner Matt Sonczak just before lunch and Derbyshire took three wickets in four overs before Chase asserted himself to pass 50 for the fourth consecutive innings.

Shane Dowrich edged a drive at Sonczak and Shai Hope failed to clear wide mid on before Kyle was caught at slip two balls later.

But that was Derbyshire’s last success as Chase and Kemar Roach shared an unbroken stand of 104 in 29 overs before Jason Holder gave his bowlers a work-out under the floodlights.

After his problems on the second day when he bowled 20 no balls in nine overs, all eyes were on Gabriel who needed a decent spell ahead of the Test.

But the big Trinidadian again struggled for rhythm, overstepping three times in his fourth over when he was also hit for two fours by Ben Slater and the tourists had turned to spin from both ends by the time the match petered out in stalemate.